Kaspers Korner

The amount of money that rookies at the top of the NFL draft has become a major concern.  Now, even a top player in the league in San Diego Chargers LaDainian Tomlinson has join the fight.

Tomlinson is in England this week promoting the game against the New Orleans Saints this upcoming season.  In the interview with BBC’s Tim Love, Tomlinson said this when he was asked by Love of what he thought of high drafted rookies getting the likes of $30 million guaranteed, “It’s very frustrating. The veterans are what make the league. They keep it at a high level. Most people don’t tune in to see rookies. They tune in to see the Payton Mannings, the Tom Bradys, they want to see guys like that. There needs to be a rookie salary cap, no question.”

The fact of the matter is that NFLPA Union Chief Gene Upshaw cannot keep his stance that those type of rookie contracts is what raises veteran contracs.  In reality it is the exact opposite.

Teams would rather spend on what they know what they are getting, and not the uncertainty. 

It is all one big guessing game when it comes to rookies.  Scouts evaluate a player on cmparisons to the top players in the league when they came out of college.  Also, they evaluate if they have the character, and the skill set to fit the systems that the team is running.

If Upshaw continues to stand where he is when it comes to rookie contracts he could find himself out of a job much sooner than  he thinks.  With Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian wanting a salary cap on rookies it is pretty much a formality that the owners will get it.

In the end it is in everyones interest that rookie salaries be capped.  After all the players in the league that are getting arrested the most are high draft picks like Cederic Benson, and Adam “Pac-man” Jones.  Both of whom were top six draft picks in the 2005 draft.

The San Francisco 49ers are in need of a new stadium real soon.  With money being the key issue 49er fans are going to have to get over paying for it.

The 49ers, like every other team that has built a stadium recently, has asked for the stadium to be publically funded.  With that being said many people are not keen on the idea.

The main problem is the amount of interest, and other debt that the team would incur from building a new stadium on its own.  Simply, the owners have given the players too much money to build stadiums on their own.

Teams agreed to give 60 percent of every dollar made to players salaries, and benefits.  When I worked at Pizza Hut, as a shift manager, the store manager could only dedicate 25 percent of forecasted sales to labor.  So, National Football League players get more than double the percentage of labor of a normal store.

The salary cap is $118 million for an individual team to spend on players salary.  Eventhough, NFL total revenues are going up that might not be necessarily so for the 49ers.  Also, the salary cap might be more than 60 percent of a individual team. 

The plain fact of the matter is that if the city Of San Francisco, and its residents, are going to have pay for the stadium if they like it or not.

It is not even the start of the regular season, and already the Dallas Cowboys are in a bind.   That is due in part to wide receiver Terry Glenn’s stubborness to get microfracture surgery, and his unwillingness to sign a waiver.

Terry Glenn suffered a knee injury that he tried to rehab last year to hopefully get back on the field, which really backfired.  It looks again that may be the case as Glenn has again elected not to get surgery, but to just rehab it, along with natural healing, will be good enough ti get him back on the field.

The other major hurdle is the injury waiver that the Cowboys want Glenn to sign.  Glenn is scheduled to make $1.74 million base salary this year.  The waiver is for if Glenn reinjures the knee he will only receive $500 thousand.

The big problem is that Glenn has barred from the teams facilities, unless he signs the waiver.  The thing is that the Cowboys cannot do that if Glenn is able to pass a physical.

The Cowboys are very thin at the wide receiver position without Glenn.  The only other decent wide receiver on the roster is Patrick Crayton, besides him there is nobody else that can come in, and not have a drop off.

So, what will happen with the Cowboys?  Most likely Glenn will be cut by the beginning of training camp, and catch on with another team.  Then subsiquently the Cowboys will make a move to get a veteran wide receiver like Roy Williams, or Anquan Boldin. 

For now it is a game of chicken, and the question being who will blink first? 

The Oakland Raiders signed wide receiver Javon Walker to a ridiculous contract near the start of free agency.  It has been only a couple of months, but it already looks like the signing was a bad one.

Walker was found laying on the streets of Las Vegas, NV unconscious, with a broken orbital fracture, according to Fox 5.  Common sense leads you to believe that he was in a fight. 

The report states that Walker was seen saturday nite spraying a crowd of people with Dom Perignon Rose champagne.  Walker bought 15 bottles at the Tryst nite club.

The incident shows how desperate they are as an organization to win again.  They threw money at a player with a bad knee, and a troubled past, so that they can just win again.

The only way that the Raiders are going to get back to winning ways is with drafting well, and develop talent. 

However, owner Al Davis is feeling the grasp of the Grim Reaper closing in on him, and knows time is running out. 

The problem is that the Raiders did a bunch of bad deals at the start of free agency, and will be in salary cap jail for a long time to come.

So, look for the Raiders to be constant visitors to the top five of the National Football League draft for the near future.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms sounded off on the organization this week in comments to the media.  However, those fell on deaf ears as in a Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce luncheon, which head coach John Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen attended.

It is obvious that Gruden does not believe in Simms.  Other wise he would not have quarterbacks Jeff Garcia and Brian Greise on their roster.  So, why is he on the team, which is what everyone at this point is wondering.

The two took the high road when it came to talking to the media in regards to Simms.  Both stated that they are not worried at all by Simms comments to the media.  Who they are concerned with is the rest of the roster that is under contract.

Why they are doing this is anyone’s guess.  It is horrible seeing someone give up their spleen, only to get treated like crap from their employer.

In the end the Bucs will get what they have coming to them.

The Cincinatti Bengals are forcing wide receiver Chad Johnson to play with the team this year.  Jusy when they thought that Johnson was on board they will have to think again.

Johnson is one of the most creative persons in the game of football.  He comes up with so many different touchdown dances, for when he scores a touchdown.  So, when Johnson complained after the first day of mandatory camp of back problem I was not surprised at all.

The fact of the matter is that keeping Johnson on the team is a dangerous move.  Johnson is a moody person, and ultimately keeping him may prove to be not the right thing to have done.

The question is now how much of a distraction will he be to the team when the seaon starts?

The New Orleans Saints signed defensive end Will Smith to a six year $70 million dollar contract extension today.  That deal  makes the Aaron Schobel deal that he did last year look like a bargain.

Schobel redid his contract last year, and the Bills are shrewd for making that deal.  Schobel over the pasy three season has recorded 32.5 sacks.  Smith over the past three season has only recoreded 26 sacks.

Talk about holy crap, but the deal that the Saints did was completely stupid.  How can you give someone that much money for not averaging in double digit sack numbers.

Thanks Saints you just made our day.

The Cleveland Browns are the undisputed heavyweight champion when it comes to staph infections as six players have suffered from it after having surgery.  The Browns need to take a hard look at who they are dealing with when it comes to their medical staff.

Browns wide receiver Joe Jurevicius had arthroscopic surgery in January, and then developed a staph infection two weeks later, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  Since, Jurevicius has had three operations on the infection, and now might not be ready for the season opener.

It is just mind boggling that an organization will let six different players develop a staph infection, and not do anything about it.  Action should of been taking after the second reported case of staph infection. 

What needs to happen before the team will do anything about this.  Why does it always have to be someone developing the infection, then coming close to death, or even dying, before someone does something.

The fact of the matter is that the longer they ignore it the more likely hood that unrestricted free agents will never sign there.  After all, who would want to play for a team that when you got hurt, and needed surgery, you would be potentially be putting your life on the line.

The Washington Redskins have not had a franchis quarterback in a long time.  It looks like that having one might soon become a reality

Redskins starting quarterback Jason Campbell said this after practicice last wednesday, “My first goal is always team success, and if I’m going to lead this team to the type of success we want, that I know we can have, then I’m going to have to put in all the time it takes. And if the team does well and reaches a high level, everyone is going to receive what they’re deserving of individually. I believe that.”

The question is can he put it all together for the regular season?  That is something that he has not been able to do so far.  In his rookie season he did not start a game.  In 2006 he finally started a game in week ten, and proceeded to start the rest. In 2007 he start the first 13 games, and then was injured. 

This year he is going to have to perform on a consistent basis.  Last year he had 2,700 yards passing, 12 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.  That is just nothing more than average performance from a starter. 

What will he have to accomplish? He will have to pass over 3,000 yards passing for the year, along with 20 touchdowns, and 10 intercpetions.  Also, Campbell will have to lead the Redskins to victory in some games.

With a completely new offense this year most likely it will be next year that Campbell will break through.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have always been known for their defense.  Now, it seems that the Steelers will have to be creative as teams have figured out their defense.

The defense has slipped the past two years going from 47 sacks in 2005, when they went to the Superbowl, to 39 in 2006, and 36 in 2007, according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is going to make changes to the defense in two ways.  First, Lamar Woodley will replace Clark Haggans as the starting left outside linebacker.  Secondly, there will be changes schematically, like that LeBeau will be constantly move the linebackers around. 

It seems teams have figured out the defense, and if the Steelers are going to be successful again they will have to come up with new things.